The Impact of COVID-19 on the Movement of Trucks Between Canada and the US: Evidence from the Ambassador Bridge

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has closed land borders for non-essential travel between Canada and the US since the middle of March 2020. This paper explores if the pandemic has had a significant impact on the patterns of truck movements between the two countries. The volume of trucks that crossed the Ambassador Bridge (busiest land border in Canada) between August 1, 2019 and February 28, 2021 is analyzed. We found that truck volume dropped only during the first two months of the pandemic. Truck traffic increased significantly in May to reach higher than normal levels and then normalized after November 2020.